Good Style

Abstract

There are many ways in which an idea can be expressed in English; writing can be verbose or cryptic, flowery or direct, poetic or literal. The manner of expression is the writing style. Style is not about correct use of grammar, but about how well you communicate with likely readers.

Keywords

Straw Kelly Clarification Metaphor Odour

Everything written with vitality expresses that vitality; there are no dull subjects, only dull minds.

Raymond Chandler

The Simple Art of Murder

It is a golden rule always to use, if possible, a short old Saxon word. Such a sentence as “so purely dependent is the incipient plant on the specific morphological tendency” does not sound to my ears like good mother-English—it wants translating.